Endgame Fix-it One-shot
by Lois128
Summary: Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS. If you have not seen Avenger's Endgame, DO NOT READ, but this is how I think it should have gone.


The Avengers and their allies have fought hard and tirelessly against Thanos' army. Thanos finally had the Infinity Stones and was about to snap his fingers, but Tony tries to pry his hand open. Thanos tosses him to the side.

"I am inevitable."

Thanos snaps his fingers, but nothing happens. He turns his hand and sees that the stones are gone.

Tony brings his arm up as the stones place themselves on his hand, "I... am... Iron Man."

Tony snaps his fingers and a wave of light consumes the entire battleground. Rocket was about to get swallowed, but the Leviathan turns into dust as it hits the ground. Everyone watches as Thanos' army disappears into dust. Thanos watches as all his effort disappears right before his very eyes. He sits, tired and defeated, waiting for the inevitable. Everyone gathers in silence as Thanos finally turns into dust. The silence breaks when they hear a thud. It was Tony, barely breathing and half his body burnt. Cody flies down and sees that Tony is close to dying.

"Mr. Stark?" Peter Parker swings down, "Mr. Stark?" Cody allows Parker to kneel down in front of Tony, "Hey. Mr. Stark, can you hear me? It's Peter. We won, Mr. Stark. We won, Mr. Stark and you did it, sir. You did it."

Tony weakly smiles. His eyelids go heavy and his breathing shortens. He was waiting for death to take him.

"Everybody, give me some room," Tony looks up to see that it's Dr. Strange making his way to him. Parker allows Dr. Strange to examine Tony's burns, "Ok, Stark, you might feel a slight pinch, but it should do the trick," Strange puts his arms out onto Tony's side, healing the burns, but also causing excruciating pain on him. Pepper held Parker back, feeling that this was too much for him. As Strange finishes, Tony regains his breathing, "Do you think you can stand for me?"

Tony takes a deep breath and slowly stands up. He then walks up to Pepper. Pepper touches his arm, taking her hand to his face, feeling no burns. Tony grabs her hand and pulls her into a passionate kiss.

Quill shouts, "Ew! Get a room, you two!"

Tony rolls his eyes, "You mind shutting your mouth? If anything, this was all your fault to begin with. We would've gotten his glove off if you hadn't have tried to deck him."

Quill sneers, "Hey, look, I'm sorry, ok?"

They both get into a heated argument until Steve got in between them, "Ok, enough," they both stop. Steve looks around, no longer seeing Thanos or any of his soldiers, "We won."

Everyone looks on with satisfaction. All except for Clint and Bruce. If only Natasha were here to enjoy this victory.

A few days later, everyone gathers around Tony's home for a send-off of Natasha, Vision, even Loki, and Heimdall, at Thor's request.

Clint speaks, "If it wasn't for Nat sacrificing herself for the Soul Stone, we all wouldn't be here today. And for Vision, he would be proud of what we did," Wanda wipes away a tear, "As for Loki, after what Thor told me what he did on Asgard, saving everyone before it got destroyed, at least he left doing something that was right."

Thor continues, "And as for Heimdall... He was one of the fiercest warriors I have ever had the pleasures to go into battle with, never knowing when it would be our last. It was an honor to know them. All of them."

Clint, Wanda, and Thor lay four bouquets of flowers in the water. One for Natasha, one for Vision, and two for Loki and Heimdall.

Bruce, Tony, Sam, Bucky, and Steve had brought the time machine to the woods. Steve volunteered to return the stones to their timelines. Just as Steve suits up inside the guest room, he hears a knock at the door. He opens it to see Clint holding the time watch.

"Look, Clint, I've decided that I'm doing this alone, and-"

"This isn't for me."

"Ok, I'm confused."

"This is for Natasha," this just left Steve more confused, "I don't know if it's even possible, but when you return the Soul Stone, I was hoping that Natasha would come back as well. It would kind of make sense, I honestly don't know how this stuff works, but if she does somehow come back alive, can you bring her back to us?"

Steve nods in understanding as he took the watch, "I'll see what I can do."

They meet the others in the woods. Bruce opens a case to reveal the stones safely stored inside, "Remember. You have to return them at the exact moment you got them or you're gonna open up a bunch of nasty alternative realities."

Steve reassures him, "Don't worry, Bruce. Clip all the branches."

Bruce sighs, "You know, I tried. When I had the gauntlet, the stones, I really tried to bring her back. I miss them, man."

"Me, too."

Sam suggests, "You know, if you want, I can come with you."

"You're a good man, Sam. This one's on me though," he walks over to Bucky, "Don't do anything stupid 'til I get back."

Bucky chuckles, "How can I? You're taking all the stupid with you," they hug it out, "Gonna miss you, buddy."

"It's gonna be ok, Buck."

Steve steps onto the machine and puts on his protective suit. Bruce powers up the machine.

Sam asks, "How long is this gonna take?"

Tony answers, "For him? As long as he needs. For us, five seconds," Steve picks up the Mjolnir, "Ready, Cap?" Steve nods, "Alright. We'll meet you back here, ok?"

"You bet," he puts on his helmet.

"Going quantum in three... two... one."

The machine sends him into the quantum zone. After having returned four of the stones, there were only two left. The Space Stone and the Soul Stone. He arrives at the lab where he got the stone, still in disguise. He carefully places it back in the cube, having completed this part of the mission, that is until he heard a gun cock.

"Hands up!" Ordered a woman with a British accent. He complied, "Turn around and show yourself," he had no other choice. He easily recognized that voice and knew that even with the serum in him, she could still take him out. He turns around. By the time she got a clear view of his face, she drops her gun, "Steve?"

He nervously smiles, "Long time no see, Peggy."

She walks up to him, "But how? I don't understand, the plane crashed. And it looks like you haven't aged a day. How is this possible? Is this even you?"

"It really is me, Peggy."

"How do I know this is you and not a Hydra operative?"

"Because the last thing I remember before going into the ice is that we had a date planned to go dancing at the Stork Club at 8."

A tear runs down her cheek. She's never told anyone that. Not even Stark, "It really is you. But what are you doing here? Why are you here?"

"That's a little hard to explain. I came here from the future to complete a mission. One of the tasks was to come back here to return that," he points to the Tesseract, "It was the only way to save everyone."

"Save everyone from what exactly?"

"I can't say. All part of the rules of time travel."

"I see. So I don't suppose that you have time to make up for our date?"

Steve wanted so much to go dancing with her and more. He wanted to make up for all those lost years, but then he got reminded of the Avengers, making amends with Tony, and getting Sam and Bucky back. His mind went to Bucky. He had been suffering for years under Hydra. He had to make a choice. Stay here in the past where he can live out his days with the love of his life, or go back to his friends, especially Bucky.

"You have no idea how long I have been wanting to go out dancing with you. I have never stopped loving you... But I can't do that. I want to so much, but I have somewhere else to be. I hope you can understand."

Peggy gives a forgiving smile, "Of course I understand. You have your responsibilities over there and I have mine here."

"Just know that I will love you for the rest of my life, no matter what happens."

They both lean in for one last kiss.

"And I will always love you," said Peggy. Steve steps back to put on his suit, "At least I was able to say goodbye before you left."

"Goodbye, Peggy," Steve presses the button on his watch and left in a flash.

As soon as he left, Howard Stark enters, "Peggy, what are you doing in here?"

Peggy immediately wipes away her tears, "I was just checking on your work. Everything seems to be in order here," she quickly walks out of the lab with her mind still on Steve. Seeing him again flooded her with memories of him before and after the serum.

Steve makes it to Vormir, falling into its ocean. He opens the case to reveal the last stone. Remembering what Clint told him, he drops it into the water, "Hope this works, Clint," as soon as the stone hit the seafloor, a wave of light erupted out of the water. A body floated up next to Steve. It was Natasha. Natasha wakes up, breathing for air. Steve picks her up, trying to comfort her, "It's ok, I'm here. You're ok."

Natasha looks up to see that it's Steve, "What happened? Where's Clint? What about the stones? And why do you have Thor's hammer?"

"Don't worry, everyone is fine."

"Then why am I back?"

"We did it. We got everyone back and it was time to return the stones. We had some trouble with Thanos, but he's gone," she sighs in relief, "Here, put this on," he hands her the watch, "Time to go home."

Natasha puts on her suit and they leave in a flash.

Back in the present, Bruce gets ready to bring Steve back, "And returning in five... four... three... two... one."

He presses the button and the machine flashes Steve and Natasha back. Everyone is stunned, especially Clint. Natasha's alive.

Tony mutters, "Holy shit."

Clint walks up to her as she takes off the suit, "Nat?"

"Clint," they put their heads together and embrace. She walks over to Bruce and stares at his burns, "What happened?"

Bruce simply answers, "I used the stones."

Natasha nods, understanding. She turns to her shoulder to see Bucky. She steps back, not knowing what he would do or if he even remembered her.

Bucky cautiously takes a step forward, "Natalia."

"It's Natasha now."

Bucky nods, "Oh, I see."

Bruce looks at the two, confused, "Have you two met before?"

Bucky and Natasha simultaneously answer, "The Red Room."

As Bruce, Tony, Bucky, Clint, and Natasha accommodate themselves, Steve sits Sam on a bench.

Sam asks, "What's all this about?"

Steve explains, "Well, I've been thinking this a lot lately, and I've decided that I want to retire for a while."

"Really? So what are we supposed to do without Captain America?"

"Who said anything about Captain America not being around?" He takes his fixed shield from his back, "I want you to carry on in my place."

Sam's eyes go wide, "No, I can't take this."

"Yes, you can. And who knows, maybe you'll make a better Captain America than I have ever been."

"Yeah probably."

They laugh.

"Why don't you try it on?"

Sam takes the shield and puts it on his arm, "Wow. But wait, while I'm out there playing as Captain America, what are you going to be doing?"

"Well, S.H.I.E.L.D has been looking for a mission coordinator, so maybe I can do something like that."

"You in charge of missions? Oh, I'm gonna feel sorry for the poor bastards that have to listen to you."

They have another laughing fit.

And that was how life went on for everyone else. They either celebrated their victory or went on with their lives.

**Now, some of you might be on the fence, accepting how the movie ended, but for me, this was a slightly happier ending that doesn't leave me in a complete mess. Sadly, I couldn't think of a way to get Loki, Heimdall, and Vision back, I don't even know what happened to Loki, but I did hear that he's having his own series on Disney plus, same goes for Wanda and Vision, which I'm not so clear how that's going to work. Maybe Shuri can bring Vision back to life, she's pretty much a badass super smart scientist, so I'll think of that for now. As for Steve, I just feel that he would want to be with Bucky since he did EVERYTHING for him. The Winter Soldier, Civil War, anything else I may have forgotten, that was all for Bucky! Don't get me wrong, I love Peggy and have full respect for her, which is why I wrote in a goodbye scene for the two. And I just feel that Steve would not stay in the past since he just got Bucky back from the snap. Now, hypothetically speaking, if Steve did stay in the timeline where he got the Tesseract, this was after he got frozen, so would that mean that there's another Steve since this Steve is married to Peggy while the other is still frozen? This is something I thought, don't know if it's possible. Time travel has just become more confusing, thanks to Endgame's rules. Hopefully, this helps out any fans out there, this is the best I can do to at least bring Tony and Natasha back. I may have been Team Cap in Civil War, but those two deserve better than this. And if you guys want some more inspiration on how it should have ended, Deadpool also has a time traveling watch he stole from Cable, so maybe you guys can do something with that. Until then, adios and stay tuned for any Marvel movies, comics, or series out there. Loves ya!**


End file.
